From the Cape Cod Times in Massachusetts:Kendra Maler (pictured) is a cheerleader for the Dennis-Yarmouth Regional High School football team, enjoys bowling, has an encyclopedic collection of music and will sing at the drop of a hat. And now the 15-year-old is going to be on an MTV reality show.
"How's Your News?" is not your average TV show, however, and Kendra is not an average teen. The show, which debuts tomorrow night, features seven reporters with physical or mental disabilities who cross the country interviewing celebrities, going to the Grammys, learning to surf and having other adventures.
It's a slightly zany, lighthearted view of life from the special-needs bus, which in this case is a custom-designed tour bus.
Kendra, who has a developmental disability, is in the sixth and final episode March 15. She and others from Camp Jabberwocky, a Martha's Vineyard summer camp for people with disabilities, are featured climbing Bromley Mountain in Vermont.
The episode is a return to the show's roots, said Arthur Bradford, director of "How's Your News?" and co-director of Camp Jabberwocky.
"How's Your News?" began as a video class production at Camp Jabberwocky, he said. The show eventually sent two men with Down syndrome to interview people on the street in Vineyard Haven and Oak Bluffs.
Tapes of the episodes caught the eyes of filmmakers Matt Stone and Trey Parker, who eventually hit it big with "South Park," and they ended up financing short, independent films featuring the "How's Your News?" team. Now MTV has picked up six episodes as a weekly series.
"We want to break down some of the misconceptions that life with a disability is all about hardship and sadness," Bradford said. "This is a lot of fun. It's got a lot of humor."Appearing in the MTV episode, part of which can be viewed on the TV show's Web site, has led to great opportunities for Kendra, said her mother, Dawn Roche.
Tomorrow Kendra plans on joining about 50 other people at a "How's Your
News?" premiere party at the Pembroke home of Camp Jabberwocky counselor Kristen "Sully" St. Amour. The show's regular reporters, who include Susan Harrington of Plymouth, Robert Bird of Rehobeth and Larry Perry of Taunton, are expected to be there, St. Amour said.
Kendra also is looking forward to attending a "How's Your News?" party in New York City Feb. 16, especially since it features a band called State Radio, headed by a Camp Jabberwocky counselor, Roche said.
"She's met some wonderful people," Roche said. "It was just a huge experience."
Kendra has something called global development delay, a type of mental retardation for which there is no explanation, Roche said. "They call it the 'unknown syndrome.' "
Kendra, who lives with her mother, stepfather, Tony Bertocci, and brother, Trevor Maler, 17, needs help getting dressed but studies basic math and reading in a special-needs room at D-Y High.
She answers a reporter's questions with mainly one-syllable answers, but expands a bit when it comes to music. "I love Michael Bolton," Kendra says, then sings his rendition of "The Dock of the Bay," about "watching the tide roll in."
During the hike up Bromley, Kendra notes on camera, "I am tiring."
It's not really a complaint, though. Kendra has a great time at Camp Jabberwocky every summer and loves going on their expeditions, Roche said. "She's a teddy bear. Very rarely grumpy. She's mostly happy."
The regular "How's Your News?" reporters, who include people with Down syndrome and cerebral palsy, all met at Camp Jabberwocky, Bradford said. For the show that's appearing on MTV, they take surfing lessons, perform at an Austin, Texas, music festival and interview celebrities, including comic Sarah Silverman and movie star Sylvester Stallone.
The reporters make great interviewers since they "are extremely outgoing and extremely curious about the world around them," Bradford said. "I think this is a very good show, period."
"How's Your News?" will air at the same time for six consecutive Sundays starting tomorrow , and may appear intermittently during the week, e-mailed Jen Ollman, "How's Your News?" producer. All the episodes will be available online.
